what makes a good combat\tactical knife

Evan Miner

Evan Miner

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Nov 24, 2011
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iv been thinking about this for a while now. i figured it was time i got some out side in put from every one here. since i got in to making knives, most the knives iv made have gone military. iv asked each person what they were looking for in a knife and what they intended to use it for, and designed each knife around there use. the biggest flaw i found in most of these orders was the lack of real world applications they planed to use the knife for . any ways every ones got there own idea of a good combat knife. me for instance i believe that any knife you are going to trust you life on should be able to handle a wide variety of task with out failure. example it needs to able to chop a mild size branch, cut rope, gut fish, and skin game, all while holding a decent edge. as for it physical design it has to be full tang. i like mine to be about 11 to 12in oal with a blade being 6 to 8in long, with either a spear point or a drop point.so what every ones idea on what makes a good combat\tactical knife? looking forward to hearing what you all have to say
 
Smatchet

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A long time back, Allen Elishewitz wrote his thoughts on what a "combat knife" should be.

As recognized and respected custom knife maker and former Force Recon marine, I think his insights are valuable and were gleaned from real-world applications. Click below for the article -

Combat Knives
 
Evan Miner said:
thanks untamed ill check it out
Click to expand...

I love studying designs and marrying form with function. As for actually making a knife? . . . Ah maybe some day. . .

If you do want to delve more into how Elishewitz translated his thoughts into steel, he did collaborations with several companies, Google them if you're interested;

Benchmade - Nimravus (specifically the earlier model with the SHALLOWER finger choil. The latter one I believe was a re-design).

Byron Knives - Lightning Strike

Black Hawk Blades - Nightwing

CRKT - FTWS


You'll see a common design philosophy in all of them.
 
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Sounds to me like for the kind of use you're talking about, you'll need:

-A broad drop or clip point blade, no gimmicky shapes

-4mm to 5/16" blade thickness

-a really tough steel like 1055 (my personal recommendation because it's cheap and kicks butt)

-full tang, obviously

-black duracoating

-a saber grind with some thickness behind the edge

-a large, girthy handle to accommodate gloved hands

-an unobtrusive but thick integral finger guard

-around 7" blade length

-jimping on the blade, just above the guard

-G10 scales
 
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Who knows? All depends on what you mean by combat/tactical. That's as empty as "bushcraft" or "survival" or "zombie" at this point.

I mean, you say "chop a mild size branch, cut rope, gut fish, and skin game"....that's not combat...it's outdoor recreation. (Unless we have gone to war with some alien fish species...)

Maybe you could clarify what you are talking about...certainly would help us help you! :thumbup:
 
kwon thanks for the design idea as for steel i use 5160 and so far i have had out standing results with it but will keep your steel suggestion in mind. marcinec thats why i asked the link provided earlier put my idea of how i see a combat \tactical knife best its a tool first weapon second. also like you said combat \tactical knife is such any empty statement so allow me to rephrase the question what do you look for in a combat \tactical knife and what seperates it from the standard survival knife?
 
Evan Miner said:
marcinec thats why i asked the link provided earlier put my idea of how i see a combat \tactical knife best its a tool first weapon second. also like you said combat \tactical knife is such any empty statement so allow me to rephrase the question what do you look for in a combat \tactical knife and what seperates it from the standard survival knife?
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I don't mean to be obnoxious, but "survival" probably means even less than "combat/tactical"! :) They have become meaningless marketing terms.

What do you think a combat knife is? What do you think it does? Who do you think would use one? I don't know! :(

I know of some classic fighting knives. I know of some classic outdoor recreation/field knives. I know the majority of members here who have served seem to have used a multitool or some cheapo Gerber, and that I have heard that carrying a big ol knife while serving makes one look like a goof.

I know that when I press people about what they mean by "survival" and "survival knives"...they are usually talking about camping. Or driving out to the woods and bashing the snot outta innocent trees with a "combat/military" knife.

So I'm at a complete loss! :)
 
Evan Miner said:
kwon thanks for the design idea as for steel i use 5160 and so far i have had out standing results with it but will keep your steel suggestion in mind. marcinec thats why i asked the link provided earlier put my idea of how i see a combat \tactical knife best its a tool first weapon second. also like you said combat \tactical knife is such any empty statement so allow me to rephrase the question what do you look for in a combat \tactical knife and what seperates it from the standard survival knife?
Click to expand...

All I ever ended up carrying was a multi-tool. Whatever one I was issued because it would without fail get lost, stolen, or break due to stupidity by someone who "borrowed" it without asking. I had too much other stuff to carry and the last thing I wanted to carry around was a big heavy knife. There were no branches to cut, animals to gut, fish to clean, or baddies to stab. We did cut some rope, multitool was fine for that. Also it needs to be able to open an MRE, and mail, and some other hardcore things like that :)
 
Sharp, pointy, and black. Cannot be tactical unless it's black. And says tactical in the name or description.

Or, if in prison, it just must kill. Shivs are truly tactical.
 
hey evan. just my two cents: yes... "survival" "bushcraft" and "tactical" have just become gimmicky names and whatnot over the years, and yes a big obnoxious knife can make any soldier look like a jackass among his comrades... and yes, a good multitool is always a soldiers friend, however there is a lot more to it than that for a soldier who is going to depend on that piece of equipment in whatever situation he finds himself in ..."tactically" or otherwise. our friend "kwon Kwang" had a few good points in my opinion, minus the "5/16 thickness (way too thick to be practical as a cutter) "large girthy handle" (as some of us have little girl hands) and "g-10 scales" as there is a lot of options out there.. as well as options of blade grinds, I think he's got a pretty good rough guide. regardless of all else, a knife has to be tough enough to handle whatever the guy is going to throw at it, practical enough to be used on a regular basis with minimal maintenance and light/small enough so the guy will actually carry it.
 
There is no straight answer, like rustyrazor wrote: " "survival" "bushcraft" and "tactical" have just become gimmicky names".

There only some guidelines: good steel and color. that is it! handles\thickness\profile ect. are all dynamic features.

Units who operate in wed conditions - including diving - need a different knife then a swat team or similar military unit who need to break a door; unit who operate in a jungle for a few days will need a knife who can give it solutions to a jungle environment, on the other hand give that knife to a police officer and it will become a burden for him, why? he has other needs in his line of work.

What i'm saying is there in no "optimal" tactical knife - there is a situation and the optimal knife for that given situation
 
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